WESTERN NEW YORK/NIAGRA FALLS AREAPROPOSED TRACK NEWS/RUMORS

Website: n/a

Latest on NW New York track: After over four years of discussion and lost investors along the way, the purchase agreements
were reportedly signed yesterday for 928 acres of property in the Massena, Brasher and Norfolk [NW New York] area for the future home of a $108 million race track and related entertainment facility. Northway Island Associates has persevered so far in its efforts to bring the giant facility to the North Country. However, WMSA News has learned that the land agreements and a newer proposal for the facilities will not be
quite as large as originally conceived. The track will be slightly smaller. Also the raceway will accommodate 60,000 seats with the possibility to expand to 120,000 seats later. Northway officials now plan to begin the next phases of the project – including design, engineering and related government agency approvals.(1340 wmsa site)AND Developers planning to build a $108 million racetrack and entertainment complex in Brasher have now purchased the properties needed for the project. Northway Island Associates have closed on the purchase of more than 920 acres for the proposed project. Brasher Town Supervisor Jim Dawson told 7 News that "the racetrack will provide a vehicle where we can achieve some economic success for the area." Developers are now expected to begin work on the site plan and design, engineering and environmental review phases for the speedway. Brasher town officials said, while no formal paperwork has been submitted, noise and traffic issues will need to be addressed.(WWNY 7 TV)(6-24-2007)

North New York Track News: At the first meeting with local government officials yesterday, developers have indicated that over 900 acres of land have been secured in the Massena, Brasher and Norfolk areas for a proposed NASCAR track in northern St. Lawrence County [NY]. As reported earlier, the track proposed by St. Lawrence International Speedway would cover a 1¼-mile area, could be constructed and in operation by summertime next year, and could employ over 1,000 North Country residents. Yesterday's meeting was held to give developers a chance to answer questions about the proposal and to learn more about zoning and environmental requirements in the planning process.(1340wmsa.com)(3-11-2003)

Northern NY Track News: Howard M. "Tim" Fry says he’s ready to go on the purchase of the Clinton County Airport property and establishment of a racetrack there. However, at the request of NASCAR, he is not talking much about getting a NASCAR show there. It had been hoped the county could go ahead with the sale of the property before the move to the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base was complete. However, that cannot be done under state law, so Fry has to wait. The layout of the airport property "makes it ideal for a road course. We make a few additions, and it will be a good road course." He said he would look at starting out with sport-car club-sponsored events. He pointed out that that is still a format New Hampshire International Speedway uses today. He said he would also court motorcycle events and lesser stock-car and Busch-series events. It would also open that market up to NASCAR sometime in the future. Fry said he has financing in place, so when the county puts the land up for bids or requests for proposals, he’s ready to move. He said it would just be a matter of months after a deal is closed before he would be ready to put cars on some kind of a track there.(Press-Republican)(1-5-2003)

New Track in New York? If some determined developers have their way, stock car racing could be coming to Plattsburgh [NY]. A Florida man wants to build a track to accomodate NASCAR's Winston Cup series. Earlier this summer the Clinton County Airport and the county fair grounds were carefully looked over by Florida developer Tim Fry and a few local businessmen. Fry told Channel 3's Jack LaDuke the plan calls for acquiring about 1000 acres of land with an investment of over $150 million. The county airport land could soon be available -- if the county decides to move the airport to the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base. Fry said luring a Winston Cup race is difficult -- but it would attract 75-to-100-thousand spectators. The track could also accomodate smaller sanctioned races bringing in 5-to-10-thousand viewers.(WCAX-TV)(11-30-2001)

Niagra Falls Track update: Construction on the Niagara Falls International Speedway is already running into delays a month after the official ground-breaking ceremony, with the developers having yet to file for a building permit. Construction was supposed to begin this month after speedway chairman Trevor Eyton announced in June, with much fanfare, that he would underwrite the $120-million facility. But the Niagara Falls planning department has not heard a word from the developers. property owner Joe Zawadzki, who owns the 190-hectare parcel of land upon which the raceway will be built, said he doesn't need a work permit. A long gravel runway is already situated on the land.(St. Catharines Standard)(7-20-2000)

Niagara Falls Track? UPDATE 2: Senator Trevor Eyton, chairman of Brascan Corp., is behind plans to bring a multimillion-dollar motor racing and tourism complex to Niagara Falls(Canada). Eyton was to attend a ground-breaking ceremony today on a 70-hectare(a hectare is 10,000 square meters) parcel of land just off the QEW at Sodom Road North, 12 kilometres from the Peace Bridge. The stadium portion of the facility would be able to handle all types of competitive circuit racing, including NASCAR, the largest governing body of professional stock car racing in the United States. Plans call for part of the facility to be open by next summer. The track will be built on land owned by Fort Erie's Joe Zawadzki, whose property was considered for the Niagara Falls casino. He said he has been trying to get Eyton involved with a race track project for two years and finally arranged a meeting with him six months ago(St. Catharines Standard)(6-16-2000)UPDATE: Having a NASCAR-style racetrack in Niagara will be like holding the Super Bowl every year. That's the kind of economic impact the region can expect from a track and major racing series, based on the experience of the Watkins Glen track in upstate New York. Plans for Niagara's $120-million track and tourist facility were announced Thursday in Niagara Falls. The Niagara Falls International Speedway Inc. will develop a track with permanent seats for 60,000 spectators. The speedway will consist of a quarter-mile drag strip and a 1 1/2-mile oval circuit. The goal is to host 20 major event weekends a year, including one or more national drag races and a variety of races drawn from the ranks of NASCAR, CASCAR, Indy and CART.(St. Catharines Standard)(6-17-2000)

Buffalo Area Track? Spectrum Motor Sports Group Inc. has chosen the Town of Batavia as its preferred site for a $100 million auto racing complex, but Genesee County officials emphasized that lots of questions need to be answered before the project becomes a reality. Spectrum's World Wide Web site declares that the Western New York Motor Sports Park "will be located in Genesee County near the city of Batavia." The site, www.web-sports-tv.com, says the target date for opening is 2001. Carolee M. Baxter, the company's public relations and marketing manager, said the 1,800-acre location is in "the northwest quadrant of the Town of Batavia." She declined to be more specific. The complex is to include a one-mile oval track, a quarter-mile drag strip, and a 3.5-mile road course. Scarborough's goal is to eventually offer events of all the major auto racing sanctioning bodies, including NASCAR stock car racing, National Hot Rod Association drag racing, National Sports Car Club of America road racing, and open-wheel racing from Championship Auto Racing Teams or the Indy Racing League. The web site says the oval race track could seat 50,000 to 60,000 fans in its first phase, with 25 luxury suites(Buffalo News Print)(1-24-2000)

Upstate NY Track UPDATE 1: While That's Racin' writer, Jim Utter, was visiting his hometown, Fonda, NY, a few weeks ago, he heard and read a few things, here are a few tidbits: Montgomery County(upstate NY, Fonda, NY was the city mentioned) has an option to buy a 600-acre parcel of land with which officials had hoped to attract an industrial park, or even convince the state to use to build a prison. But two officials - Ronald Mead and Bill Wills, who attended the Daytona 500 - suggested a new idea. Why not build a racetrack on the land - one that could attract NASCAR events, perhaps even its biggest and most successful series in Winston Cup. A few weeks ago, the county's board of supervisors voted 13-1 to authorize a feasibility study to examine the possibility of putting a NASCAR track at the site of the proposed industrial park. And the only dissenter, William Grzyb, said he wasn't opposed to building a race track in the county, just not at the proposed site. Fonda has a nice small track there now - Fonda Speedway.(6-16-1999)UPDATE 1: Fonda Speedway was the site of a few NASCAR GN(now Cup) events: dates and winners - 6/18/55: Junior Johnson; 7/14/66: David Pearson; 7/13/67: Richard Petty; 7/11/68: Richard Petty(6-17-1999)

Bill France said yesterday he has no plans to build a speedway in Saratoga, N.Y. Pressed about a report that his International Speedway Corporation is looking at a 2,000 acre site near Albany for a new race track that could replace Watkins Glen, N.Y., on the Winston Cup tour, France put plenty of distance between himself and the issue. Last week France said that NASCAR planned to keep racing at Watkins Glen ''for the immediate future,'' and declined to say what time frame he was committed to.(JournalNow)(8-17-1998)

First it was fast horses and now Saratoga county residents could be seeing fast cars.NASCAR officials sped into town looking for a possible new track sites in the Malta-Stillwater area. The owners of Daytona International Speedway report that they are thinking about building one on a two-thousand acre parcel on the Malta-Stillwater border. Officials say the track could draw more than 100-thousand people per race, and replace the aging Watkins Glen track in southern New York. Speedway owners met with local development officials two weeks ago, and took an aerial tour of the property. Other unidentified sites are also being considered. Development on the Saratoga site would face numerous obstacles, traffic perhaps top among them. The property is only accessible through secondary roads, which may not be able to handle the influx of tens-of-thousands of racing fans. See the story at Saratoga could be getting another track.(Thanks Don/MSNBC-WNYT)(8-13-1998)

NASCAR President Bill France told the Elmira (N.Y.) Star-Gazette that Winston Cup will return to Watkins Glen next year. The Watkins Glen race is often considered shaky, because it's one of only two road courses on the schedule and has one of the smallest purses (about $1.7 million).(That's Racin')(8-10-1998)

Rumors have been afoot that developers in the Buffalo area want to build a new racetrack in western New York and take away Watkins Glen's Winston Cup date. Those rumors were dispelled Saturday by NASCAR president Bill France Jr., who said he has not yet been contacted by anybody from Buffalo. "Our plans right now, we're planning on continuing Winston Cup races at the Glen," France said. "That's where we are now."(SpeedNet)(8-9-1998)

From the Buffalo News per a reader: Officials at Spectrum Motor Sports Group are holding discussions with officials of Niagara, Orleans and Genesee counties seeking a location for an 1,800 acre racing complex that might create 2,000 jobs. The goal of Spectrum is to construct a complex that might lure one or all of the best known racing series-Winston Cup, CART and IRL to Western NY. Spectrum's investment could total $110 Million, said John R Simon, executive director of Niagara County Industrial Development Agency. Spectrum's president is identified as Mark R Scarborough. The proposal is for three separate tracks; a 1/4 mile dragstrip, a one mile oval,and a 3.5 mile road course. This info is from the Buffalo News on Aug 5th, 1998. Their phone number for more info is 716-849-4444.(8-5-1998)